Akio Morita Quotes

Everybody in the company must contribute, and for the lower level employees their contribution must be more than just manual labor. We insist that all of our employees contribute their minds.
Akio Morita

We are more willing to act in the US like a US company, in Europe like a European company, and in Japan like a Japanese company. That’s the only way a global company like Sony can truly become a significant player in each of the world’s major markets.
Akio Morita

We should all join to try to make more Japans in other parts of the world.
Akio Morita

There are few things in the US that Japanese want to buy, but there are a lot of things in Japan that Americans want to buy. The problem arises in that American politicians fail to understand this simple fact. It could never be the case that we are selling too much… the [trade] imbalance arises as a result of commercial transactions based on preferences.
Akio Morita

A society which values MBA’s, lawyers, and financial wizards over engineers and product planners is moving in the wrong direction.
Akio Morita

My mother was very fond of Western classical music, and she bought many phonograph records for our old Victrola… and I believe my interest in electronics and sound reproduction began because of her.
Akio Morita

Stop viewing business as a strictly ‘burden sharing’ enterprise…incorporate the idea of ‘reward sharing’.
Akio Morita

The tendency… towards a short-term focus on quarterly results rather than the vital long-term vision needed to sustain and promote a healthy industrial base.
Akio Morita

Japan is in desperate need of a new philosophy of management; a new paradigm for competitiveness; a new sense of self.
Akio Morita

If Japan is to contribute and be a part of the global economy, it must re-invent itself to blend with prevailing attitudes and practices of international business.
Akio Morita

Japanese corporations must re-evaluate their practice of paying small dividends to shareholders. Rather than building vast reserves of cash, Japanese companies should show a greater willingness to share the fruits of their profits with worldwide stockholders and employees.
Akio Morita

This is the time for both of us, Americans and Japanese, to stop blaming each other. Instead, we must do our best to examine and improve ourselves.
Akio Morita

All you need is the best product in the world, the most efficient production in the world, and global marketing.
Akio Morita

[On choosing the name Sony] We wanted a new name that could be recognised anywhere in the world, one that could be pronounced the same in any language.
Akio Morita

[On being told ‘I have been in business many years and have never been outmaneuvered. But today you outsmarted me.’] You see. I am a kind of Japanese Jew!
Akio Morita

[In 1985] I stopped counting my trans-Pacific trips at 135, a long time ago.
Akio Morita

[In response to ‘So when you’re in America you must be clear, and when you return to Japan you must be vague – is it hard to switch back and forth?’] It’s more difficult than you can imagine.
Akio Morita

Competition makes us work hard. So that makes both sides technology improve.
Akio Morita

If you and I had the same opinions about the same subjects, it would be useless for both of us to remain with the same company… It is precisely because our opinions differ that the company runs less risk of making mistakes.
Akio Morita

[In 1990] We feel a company is just like family, just like home. We are working together.
Akio Morita

In all my years in business I can recall very people I have wanted to fire for making mistakes.
Akio Morita